Arundel

Family day out at Arundel, taking in the Wetlands Centre and town. Non-captive highlights my first House Martin of the year and a number of Cetti's Warblers (heard but not seen unfortunately).

Here are some of my favourite shots from today. Please click to see in high resolution.

 

Mill Hill, a nationally scarce moth, a fungi that grows out of a caterpillar, and a Black Adder

Popped over to Mill Hill to see if I could catch-up with the Grizzled and Dingy Skippers reported earlier in the week; unfortunately the weather wasn't playing ball so only managed a few sightings when the sun shone through the clouds: 3 Dingy and 2 Grizzled Skipper sightings, though they may well have been the same individuals as never saw more than one at any one time. The Grizzled was looking very fresh. A few ok-ish photos below but as they only ever seem to rest low to the ground, I couldn't avoid the distracting vegetation. How does Neil Hulme manage to get them all so nice and isolated?!

A highlight however was meeting Jake Everitt and finding/learning about a nationally scarce moth (Pancalia sp) and a fungi (Cordyceps gracilis) that grows out of a caterpillar! He also found an Adonis Blue Caterpillar, which was a new one for me.

As I was about to leave I nearly stood on a couple of adders, one brown and one stunning black Adder (both were at the foot of the slope towards the southern-most corner, close to the hedgerow.

Dingy Skipper

Grizzled Skipper

Pancalia sp. the red list one I believe

Cordyceps gracilis, a rare parasitic fungi which grows inside the Common Swift Moth Caterpillar (it is buried underground in this image)

Adonis Blue Caterpillar (to be confirmed)

A gorgeous Black Adder

And a Brown one